Local hero Jari-Matti Latvala took his third Rally Finland win and the 14th of his career, at what turned out to be the fastest event in World Rally Championship history. Latvala seized the advantage on the most famous stage of the rally, Ouninpohja, halfway through day two and never looked back, racking up 10 stage wins in total. “Today I was proud to be a Finn!” he said at the end. “Winning Rally Finland feels a bit like winning half a championship. What more could any driver want than to win at home?”
Latvala’s Volkswagen team-mate Sebastien Ogier led the first half of the event, but had no answer to the Finn’s pace for the rest of it, no doubt with a firm eye on the championship as a third driver’s title looms ever closer.
“There’s no shame in finishing second to Jari-Matti when he’s on this sort of form,” said Ogier. “He did a perfect rally. From our point of view we did a good job and took 21 points by winning the power stage as well. The championship is looking good now.”
Completing the podium, albeit some way off the leaders, was Citroen’s Mads Østberg. The Norwegian inherited the place when his team-mate Kris Meeke crashed out on Saturday afternoon – a fate shared by former F1 star Robert Kubica.
Here are eight things we learned from this year’s Rally Finland…
1. The World Rally Championship is getting quicker
Rally Finland was the quickest event in World Championship history, with Latvala winning at an average speed of 125.44kph. That shatters the previous best record, which was 122.89kph from the 2012 Rally Finland.
Not only that: the Power Stage was also the quickest one ever run in WRC history. Ogier won it with an average speed of 135.25kph, on a maximum attack mission to score as many points as possible. On Saturday morning, Ogier broke the stage record on Ouninpohja during the first run through. In the afternoon, Latvala took a full 17 seconds out of that time during the second run
2.There’s no place like home
Latvala’s family and friends gathered to meet him at the end of the Myhinpaa stage. “If there’s one rally I wanted to win, it was this one,” said Latvala. “I just wish that every round could be held in Finland!” As a result of his win – and a first-day crash for his team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen – Latvala has jumped back to second in the championship standings behind Ogier.
3. The Meeke might not inherit the earth after all
Citroen driver Kris Meeke comes out of Finland with a less enviable record: three crashes from three rallies. The Northern Irishman had a safe podium in the bag, but slid wide on Saturday afternoon’s Jukojarvi stage and broke his DS3 WRC’s wheel against a rock, putting him out on the spot.
He’s faced recent criticism from his boss Yves Matton but Meeke isn’t too fazed by the fact that his job is on the line. “I’ve always been under pressure to perform and I’ve never had my future settled for more than six or eight months at a time anyway,” he said. “This is no different. At least I’ve still got a seat and a steering wheel to show what I can do…” For now at least.
4. Ouninpohja sorts the men from the boys
It’s like the world’s biggest rollercoaster ride, and the drivers get quite emotional talking about it this legendary stage. “I tried to play it safe over the big crests but I couldn’t help pushing – it’s just too much fun,” said Mads Østberg. “These are really the best stages in the world.”
Appropriately, Ouninpohja was also where Latvala took his 400th stage win on Saturday, and it was also the name of racehorse owned by Colin McRae many years ago. Presumably because the horse in question jumped a lot.
5. M-Sport’s focus on youth is paying off
M-Sport finished on the podium last time out in Poland, and the British Fiesta team proved that the pace of its young chargers was no fluke in Finland. Admittedly, the opening day wasn’t ideal, as both Ott Tanak and Elfyn Evans hit a rock, which damaged a damper on Tanak’s car and a suspension arm on Evans’. They both limped to the end of the day, but then got a move on for the rest of the rally, with Tanak setting a blinding pace to move up to fifth place by the finish.
“All credit to them for getting the cars to the end on Friday,” said M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson. “Without their problems, who knows where they might have ended up?”
6. Hyundai’s mechanics are the best in the business
When it comes to fixing bent metal, nobody does it better (or gets more practice) than Hyundai. First of all, Thierry Neuville crashed during the shakedown – but this could have been a good omen, as he did exactly the same before he won Rallye Deutschland last year. Then, determined to go one better, Hayden Paddon comprehensively wrecked his i20 WRC on Saturday afternoon. Finally, feeling left out, Dani Sordo slithered off on Saturday evening, losing five minutes and rearranging the front end of his car.
7. It’s never over until the fat lady sings the national anthem
This tired old cliché was categorically proven by the outcome of the WRC3 class, where Frenchman Quentin Gilbert was being hunted down by local man Henri Haapamaki. Gilbert started the final day of Rally Finland with a comfortable margin, which became extremely uncomfortable when Haapamaki took 10 seconds out of him on the opening stage. Gilbert’s co-driver then made a mistake and earned them a 10-second penalty, meaning they started the final 14-kilometre stage just two and a half seconds ahead of their Finnish rivals. Their eventual winning margin? Just half a second.
8. Australia could be the country of champions
So stratospheric has been the rise of Ogier and Volkswagen up the championship rankings that the shouting could be all over by Australia, in just two rallies time. That’s the theory at least. Before then, Volkswagen has to tackle Rallye Deutschland at the end of August: a home event, where they have traditionally had the luck of a winning lottery ticket in a house fire. Ogier, now with an 89 point lead, could also win the title on home territory in France at the beginning of October, after the Tour de Corse.
Published by: redbull.com
Story by: Anthony Peacock